Quebec Finance Minister Breaks Tradition

As most of those who live in Quebec already know, yesterday was Finance Minister Raymond Bachand's first budget since being assigned to what must be, the most unenviable job in the Quebec government.
The budget itself delivered what was to be expected, increased tuition fees, gas taxes, sales tax and a new poll tax on individuals to help pay for health care. The tax increases were sugar-coated with the promise that the government will cut it's own expenses substantially, but while the tax increases are real, there's little in the historical record of any Quebec government that would indicate that they'll have any success in fulfilling the promise of smaller government.

Interestingly, the Finance Minister broke two traditions that are part of Canadian political lore, the first of which is the wearing of a new pair of shoes to present the budget. Mr. Bachand opted to have an old pair of shoes repaired by a shoemaker, to underline the importance of austerity.
I didn't even know that there's a shoemaker left in Quebec City and I wonder which cabinet minister keeps shoes to the point that they need to be repaired by a cobbler, but no matter, the photo-op was well played.

The second tradition concerning the presentation of the budget, is that secrecy is of utmost importance, as advance knowledge of its contents can be of use, sometimes, in regards to financial markets. The contents of the budget are jealously hidden from outsiders and should the budget leak in any substantial form, the Finance Minister is expected to resign.

Perhaps the most interesting story concerning a budget leak was the case of Federal Liberal Finance Minister Marc Lalonde, who back in 1982 inadvertently allowed a reporter to photograph salient portions of his budget. Instead of facing the music and resigning, he pulled an underhanded move, which I still regard as the most egregious example ever, of disrespect of taxpayer money.
 According to Andrew Coyne in his BLOG;

"To forestall accusations that his deficit forecast of $32.4-billion (or whatever it was) had been leaked (after Lalonde, in a pre-budget photo-op, carelessly let the cameras get too near the document), the minister hastily tacked on $200 million in spending, boosting the deficit to $32.6-billion and allowing him to claim that the correct number had not, in fact, been leaked.

Yesterday, before the Quebec budget was presented, it was leaked, lock, stock and barrel to a Quebec City "Shock Jock," Jeff Fillion, whose acerbic and insulting radio shtick is a genre popularly known in Quebec as Radio "Poubelle" (Garbage.)

Yup, the morning of budget, the JOURNAL DE MONTREAL printed a story which described Mr Fillion's assertion that he had received a complete copy of the budget from an anonymous source.
The paper published Mr. Fillion's version of what was to come and surprisingly, he was dead on, accurately revealing many of the budget's tax increases.

The leak represents the biggest incident of its kind in Canadian history, but so far it seems to be causing not the slightest ripple. The press is preoccupied with the content of the budget, which is provoking slews of wonderful quotes from separatists and labour leaders who complain that tax increases should only be applied to rich people and corporations.

The police have been called in to investigate, so the government has admitted the leak was real.

Surprisingly, Mr. Bachand bucked convention and did not offer to resign as he should have. Even more amazing, is that nobody has called on Mr. Bachand's to do so!

I guess everyone is still numbed that the 38% that the Quebec government takes out of the economy is set to approach 40%, a new North American record!!

And who says Quebec can't be Number 1!

Statistics Can Say Anything- It's a Matter of Perspective

I read a blog entry that touted Quebec's performance at the Vancouver Olympics which asserted that Quebec outperformed the rest of Canada in terms of medal production. The skewed use of data had me scratching my head and so I did a little analysis of my own.....

You might remember a blog entry I wrote about an ex-NHLer who wrote a book 'proving' that Francophones were systematically discriminated against in the NHL. In the book written by Bob Sirois, entitled Le Québec mis en échec (Quebec Body-Checked) the author used a plethora of statistics to prove that Quebeckers are given the short end of the stick and are the subject of an organized conspiracy to keep their NHL numbers low. LINK

Now I never bothered reading the book, because its premise is ludicrous.
As in the entertainment business, sports is one domain where talent wins out. There isn't a general manager in the NHL who is so comfortable in his job that he would hire or draft an Anglophone or European before a superiorly talented Francophone. To believe otherwise is insane.

In a contrasting article written by Louis Fournier, on the nationalist vigel.net, the writer takes the exact opposite view and lists all the Francophones in the NHL, 'proving' that Francophones are overrepresented!
Of course he takes quite a few liberties in discerning who is a Francophone with the most egregious error being his reference to Roberto Luongo as a Francophone-Italo-Quebecker.

Now I know a lot of Montreal Italians and I defy anyone to pretend that they are anything but 99% Anglophones. They refer to themselves as Italian-Canadians, as do the Jews, Greek and the Chinese who live in Quebec.

So statistics can be interpreted with widely differing conclusions and in this spirit I will analyse Mr. Fournier's recent missive entitled  Les athlètes québécois se sont surpassés aux Jeux de Vancouver  (Quebeckers outshone the rest of Canada at the Olympics.)

He starts off by saying that Quebeckers won 28 0f the 90 medals earned by Canadians at the Vancouver games. (This includes all the team medals and individuals medals.) This represents a medal haul of 31% as compared to Quebec's 22% proportion of the population, a good achievement  but not earth-shattering, even if true. At any rate a more detailed look will reveal that this isn't exactly the case and that Mr. Fournier takes the same liberties as he did in his first article.

As I reviewed the list he provides, the first thing that struck me was the over-representation of Anglophones on his list of Quebec winners, who won  6 of the of the 28 medals. With 8.5% of the Quebec population Anglos racked up 28% of the medals!

Again, this is not exactly true, because two of the winners, Clara Hughs and Jenneifer Heil are 'imports' and moved to Quebec for various reasons long after they were successful, but no matter they shall be counted just the same!

By the way, many of the Francophone athletes who medalled are firmly the product of Anglo culture and education system with Marie-Philip Poulin, the star of the gold medal hockey game, currently enrolled in Dawson College and Kim St. Pierre and Charline Labonté both McGill graduates.

If you're going to count as Quebekers, those who moved here, it would be fair to remove from the list those who live outside Quebec on a full time basis. Case in point is Martin Brodeur, the goalie of the New Jersey Devils who actually took out American citizenship just weeks prior to the Olympic games.
If Ryan Miller wasn't clearly the number one goalie for the United States, perhaps we'd have seen Mr. Brodeur sporting a big USA on his jersey! (Remember Tony Espositio?)

Then of course there is Caroline Ouellette who played hockey and was educated at the University of Minnesota and Sarah Vaillancourt who went to Harvard University, not one of your more familiar Francophone schools!

When you remove Marc-Andre Fleury from the equation, because he never actually set foot on the ice, you pretty much find  that Anglos and the Anglophones are responsible for close to half of Quebec's haul.
If you subtract the non-Quebec Quebeckers, Quebec's contribution is just about spot on with what Canada did. (I dare you to make a sentence with three 'Quebecs' in a row!!!)

Anyways, that's what my statistics tell me.

Now before you tell me that my logic is faulty and that I argue opposite points to achieve my preconceived conclusions, that is exactly the point.

When you set out to twist statistics to prove an already formed idea, you are engaging in intellectual fraud and unfortunately most of the 'statistics' and 'facts' that come out of the sovereignty movement are based on these types of  exercises.

It has gotten to the point that when Gilles Duceppe speaks I'm apt to check every fact that he claims and every error of omission that he makes. There's hardly a speech without a factual error or gross misrepresentation or omission. But the faithful eat it up, just the same.

If you didn't have a chance to see the video I prepared of Mario Beaulieu, president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, telling one whopper after another, in a speech before a group of ardent separatists watch it HERE.

The problem is that nobody is out there checking the facts, not even the reporters who cover these people and so these people are free to make the most outrageous claims, misrepresentations and errors of omissions.

Dishonesty is the hallmark of the sovereignist movement, starting way back when, with the very first referendum question where the YES camp tried to fool Quebeckers into voting YES by soft-pedalling reality.
In the second referendum the YES side used a campaign poster to intimate that the Loony, would be the currency of an independent Quebec, a concept that was patently false and misleading.

Nothing has changed, the sovereignist campaign still relies on lies and it's strictly a case of smoke and mirrors. The Bloc Quebecois' attacks on Canada and Anglophones are dishonest in any measure. Sadly many Quebeckers believe the lies spun by those who tell them that Canada is an economic and cultural drag on Quebec.
It's comically absurd, but everyday we hear it.

Bloc Quebcois' Sanctimonious Hyprocosy

Two articles concerning the Bloc Quebecois piqued my interest this week and had me shaking my head in disgust.

We have all endured the Bloc Quebecois sanctimonious complaints over greenhouse emissions emanating from Alberta's Oil Tar Sands project, all the while, conveniently ignoring the dollars bills that also flow directly out of the Alberta oil industry and into Quebec's treasury via equalization payments. For the Bloc, that's too many dots to connect or an inconvenient truth and so the relationship between the two elements is pooh-poohed or ignored completely. For the Bloc, the fact that equalization payments from western provinces to Quebec total about 15 billion dollars a year, or about 15% of Quebec's budget is no reason to stop bitching and moaning about Alberta greenhouse gases as long as it plays to a willingly deaf, dumb and blind audience at home.

After being treated to one such anti-Tar Sands lecture from a sovereignist acquaintance of mine, I asked him if his position would be the same if the Tar Sands, happened to be located in Quebec.
He laughed and gave a little smile. "Of course not!"  he said unabashedly. "Politics is always a case of perspective. Positions are always flexible, depending on where you come from" He then went on to say unashamedly that if the Tar Sands were located in Quebec, the province would have been independent many years ago!

And so institutionalized hypocrisy reigns in Quebec's Bloc Quebecois party and while lecturing  other provinces and the Federal government on a wide variety of economic and social issues the Bloc spins along merrily ignoring the very advice it provides to others.

The first case in point is the Bloc's failure to support a motion put forward in Parliamentary committee by NDP MP, Pat Martin last week, who proposed that an annual $250,000 subsidy to an asbestos lobby group be killed.
Now the Conservatives and Liberals voted against the motion, because technically it could have lead to a confidence vote on the House, something both parties don't want to happen just yet.
But the Bloc had no such qualms, if a confidence vote occurred it'd be to the others to prop up the government and to the BQ, it was case of no never mind.

Now I need not remind readers what a foul, dangerous and toxic substance asbestos is, suffice to say, it's use is banned in North America and all over the civilized world. However, that doesn't stop Quebec from shipping out millions of dollars worth of the stuff to third world countries each year, a reprehensible and cynical abrogation of social responsibility, if ever there was.

The Bloc voted against the motion because it is actually a big supporter of asbestos, despite the product being responsible for more deaths than crack cocaine. Asbestos provides thousands of Quebec jobs and so for the Bloc, it means compromising their lofty environmental ideals in the name of expediency.
I wonder what their position would be if the stuff came out of Alberta or Ontario?

In Quebec a new coalition was formed this week to promote the 'safe' use of asbestos and to lobby for continued exports. Of course, the Bloc supports this undertaking and goes along with the fiction that there are safe uses of the product as long as proper procedures are followed. That logic would have us believe that the third world possesses this technology and expertise while we in the Western world do not. Hmmmm.......

According to the  BQ's, newly developed environmental green plan, the Alberta Tar Sands are 'out' while Quebec's asbestos is 'in'. It makes perfect perfect sense....in Quebec!

Nobody in the press seems to bother to call out the party on this ridiculously contradictory position, not even the English press. Perhaps they aren't even paying attention to what the Bloc is saying, which may very well be.

The second item in the news was Mr Duceppe's call on the Quebec government to shelve any idea of raising electrical rates that Quebeckers pay to the provincially owned monopoly, Hydro-Quebec, a rate that is the absolute lowest in North America. While Quebeckers pay just 6.9¢ per kilowatt hour for electricity, Ontarians pay 11.3¢ and New Yorkers 25.2¢. For every penny increase in the rate, Quebec could recoup up to 2 billion dollars a year, so you'd think there would be room to raise prices in order to pay down Quebec's massive debt, but not according to Mr. Duceppe.

Now any increase in Hydro rates would trigger a reduction in those famous equalization payments to the tune of almost 50% and so Mr. Duceppe has no shame in proposing that it is not in Quebec's interest to do anything that would reduce Ottawa's handout. And so he proposes that rates should be left alone and any tax increases should come somewhere else, where equalization is not affected.

Keeping electricity rates artificially low can be considered a scam on the same proportion as the famous "Fishing For Stamps" program run by the Newfoundland government in the 1970's. Back then, fish factories were built with government subsidies so that workers could work the minimum 14 weeks to qualify for federal unemployment insurance.  The factories were uneconomic and operated for a short period of time, just before winter in order to get workers "stamped up," a term derived from the fact that the government issued stamps as proof of employment. At one time it is estimated that up to one third of the Newfoundland work force was using the ruse to bilk Canadians out of billions of dollars of unemployment insurance annually, all with the Newfoundland government's blessing.

Mr. Duceppe's party's open and unashamed call to keep Hydro rates low in order to preserve it's equalization payments is a testament to it's cynical and long-standing policy of sucking out as much money from Canada, while biting the hand that feeds it , all the while  complaining that Quebec is getting less than their fair share.
Oh the hypocrisy!

Crucifix in Parliament is a Large Cross to Bear For Pauline Marois

While everyone was watching the Olympics, Pauline Marois leader of the Parti Quebecois, Quebec's sovereignists opposition party debated Gerald Bouchard (of the famous Bouchard/ Taylor commission) over 'reasonable accommodations' on the popular CBC French language programme "Tout le Monde en Parle"

Madame Marois and her separatist PQ party have been pushing the principle that religion should be removed from government and para-public institutions. This policy was crafted not so much to reflect Quebec's disengagement from the Catholic Church, but rather to put a check on orthodox Muslims, Hassidic Jews and Sikhs whose orthodoxy frightens and annoys most old stock French Quebeckers.

The debate rages on over the principle of 'reasonable accommodations,' a concept wherein exceptions are made in public policy to accommodate people on the basis of religious convictions.

An example of a religious accommodation is a patient asking that she be seen by a female doctor, for modesty purposes. Another accommodation is to allow the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, a public institution to continue to serve Kosher food only.

Some accommodations are tiny, some are big, but most Quebeckers are tired of them all and in opinion poll after opinion poll, hold by a large majority that no religious accommodations should be tolerated at all.

The issue cuts across political lines, with the most radical sovereignist part,  Quebec Solidaire,  solidly in favour of allowing accommodations, while The Parti Quebecois  proposes that no religious dress or signs be worn by employees in court, government offices, schools or para-public facilities in general. This means that no niqabs, hijabs, kippas, turbans or large or ostentatious crosses would be allowed.

While this position appears fair and seemingly impacts all religions equally, it's clear that the proposal targets Muslims who are just about the only religious minority that works for the government in any numbers. (You're never going to get served by a Hassid at the license bureau!) This  'fair' proposal was attacked by Mr. Bouchard on the television show and Pauline Marois did some neat tap dancing to explain that while the province should project a religiously neutral face, Christian symbols and customs should be maintained.

Crucifix in Quebec Parliament

Mr. Bouchard asked Ms. Marois that if her policy was to be put in force, whether the Crucifix that sits over the Speakers chair in the Quebec Parliament would have to come down to reflect this new secularism.

Errrr. Noooo, because..err.....well.....you see..... uhmmm.......

"Because it is part of Quebec Heritage!" The Crucifix.... it should stay. It is part of Quebec's history which shouldn't be erased!" She finally blurted out.

And so a new policy is born.
Christian symbols are no longer necessarily Christian, when they are part of Quebec's heritage

Serge Charbonneau reminds us in a piece on vigile.net that the Crucifix was installed by  the Premier of Quebec Maurice Duplessis back in 1936;

"The crucifix was introduced by Duplessis to affirm that the leadership of the Quebec government  was "guided" by the hand of God himself through his humble disciple."

So much for the Crucifix not being a religious symbol.

By the way the Jewish General Hospital, built  by the Jewish community, opened it's doors in 1934 and always served kosher food. Do you think that Madame Marois would also consider this a part of Quebec heritage that should be maintained? Not likely.

During the Bouchard/Taylor Commission, the Jewish General Hospital was a popular target of so-called secularists, who even objected to the name. The fact that almost every large city Quebec has a "Hotel Dieu" or "Notre Dame" hospital is beside the point, those names represent Quebec heritage, according to the PQ.

The position of the Parti Quebecois remains laughably hypocritical.

Crucifix over Mont-Royal

Referring to Quebec 'heritage'  to justify a policy of supporting Christian symbols is a clumsy cop-out to maintain the status quo, while barring the public display of other religions, traditions and culture.

 And so in the new secular Quebec, no religion will be favoured except that the 15,000 place names based on the Christian bible will remain. We can continue to live on Saint Andre Street, on Jesus Island, near the Saint Lawrence River. The celebration of Christian holidays as the only officially paid religious holidays will remain. Crucifixes in public buildings, including schools, hospitals and government offices will remain and  Christian prayers may be recited before town council meetings.

And of course no religion will be favoured over another, at least not officially, according to Madame Marois....

Banning Street Hockey Dimishes Us All.

This week's news story that a predominantly Anglo suburb ticketed a resident for playing street hockey with his son and a group of kids has really ticked me off. It's an example of the over-regulation that should not exist in our society, especially in Quebec.

It's something we expect outside our province, in Ottawa or other some-such stuffed shirt community that expounds a tight-assed, white bread mentality, where fun is a four lettered word.

But it happened here in Quebec, the land of laissez-faire, where jaywalking, running red lights and ignoring crosswalks are all accepted practices. It's truly disappointing. It tarnishes our hitherto well-deserved reputation for enjoying a certain joie-de-vivre.

For those of you who haven't heard, a resident of the staid Anglophone community of Dollard-des Ormeaux, was ticketed when he defied a community cop by telling him that he would not stop the game of street hockey.

The city explained that a neighbour had complained about the noise emanating from the group of kids playing in the street and so they had to act.

Every neighbourhood has that same idiot neighbour that makes life difficult for kids. My foil as a child was old man Mr. Brown, who lived at the corner of the street and who tormented us at every opportunity.

"DON"T RIDE YOUR BICYCLE ON THE SIDEWALK!"

"DON"T MAKE SO MUCH NOISE!"

"GET THE HELL OFF MY LAWN!"  BLAH! BLAH!

Things, haven't changed in all these years, there will always be a Mr. Brown in some form or another. The cops should actually ticket these idiots for being such Grinches. At least Mr. Brown taught me a valuable lesson which I have always lived by - Don't hassle little kids, even if they're annoying. This is the time of their lives, so grin and bear it!

And so the $75 ticket is a testament to the over-regulated society that we have created, one that values Grandma's desire to watch Oprah, in peace and quiet, over the rights of kids to have fun in the street.

Noise is part of the city. Sirens, airplanes, dogs barking, tires screeching, church bells and kids playing are all part of the urban landscape. Those who seek solitude can escape to the country, but the city belongs to the people.

When I was a kid, way back in the day, street hockey was the great equalizer. I grew up in that infamous St. Urbain neighborhood in Montreal, of Moredchai Richler fame, where hockey was one of the first indoctrinations into Canadian life for immigrant children.
Back then, it was was the Anglos, Immigrants, and the 'Yids' versus the 'Frenchies.' (Yes we talked like that, and nobody cared) More often than not, there weren't enough 'Frenchies' to go around and so we had to trade a few players.
No matter, after counting out ten paces to measure the space for the goals, we deposited scrunched up jackets or a lost galosh to denote goalposts (no we didn't have nets) and the two players who owned  baseball mitts were obliged to be the goalies.
We played and we played, using that famous red, white and blue rubber ball that everyone, over forty remembers. When cars came by, they slowed down to a crawl respectfully and those who dared to honk were booed unmercifully. The police drove by all the time and smiled and joked with us. One time a police sergeant parked his car and borrowed a stick to take a few 'shootout' shots at our goalie. We went home when it got dark and our parents never worried.
Nobody ever got hit by a car and none of the neighbours complained about the noise.

Nobody wore any type of defensive equipment and masks and helmets were unheard of. But in all the years, I only saw one injury and that was a broken leg.
We learned to curse in French,Yiddish and assorted European languages.  'Idiotsky'! 'Putsch'! 'Tabarnac!' 'Pootsa!', but more importantly, we also learned to live together.
Street hockey was our first opportunity as kids to organize something for ourselves without adult supervision.

Great memories, it was the best of times....

Too bad that we have become a nation of sissies, all of us, Francophone and Anglophones combined.
We live in a world where street hockey is no longer acceptable because it annoys neighbours and violates the never-proved theory that even the safest suburban street is too 'dangerous' for play.

Today, we over-supervise our children and take exaggerated precautions, we consider everything too dirty, too unsafe and too dangerous for our precious little ones. Yet we over medicate and over treat our children with antibiotics and tranquilizers and think we are doing a bang up job raising our kids because we keep them 'safe.'
When I grew up nobody had 'Epipens', inhalers, nor was anybody lactose intolerant. Asthma was as rare as could be and nobody gave their kids Ritalin. We didn't eat junk food because it didn't exist and at any rate nobody could afford it. Drinking a Pepsi or an Orange Crush was a rare and delicious treat.

Sometimes less is more.

Today instead of letting kids organize and play amongst themselves, we organize sanitized  'play dates."
I much prefer my mother's attitude when she admonished me to; "Get away from that television set and go outside and play in the street.  Don't come back 'til six....."

Yeeess!!!.............

Unreasonable Reaction Over Reasonable Accommodations

I told you last week that the secularist 'victory' over the niqab clad women would open the floodgates of intolerance towards minority religions in Quebec and unfortunately it has already begun to manifest itself. The press is on a frenzied mission to root out any sort of accommodation towards minority religions and common citizens are already taking pot shots at these minorities in public with open season having already been declared on women wearing any sort of a head covering.

A couple of weeks ago the Minister of Education made a deal with a couple of Hasidic schools whereby they could stay open on the weekend to allow enough time to teach religion as well as the full  course load as provided by the Ministry. To accommodate this, she was forced to change the law that banned school from teaching on the weekend. Instead of designating the days on which school must be taught, she changed the formula to that of a prescribed amount of hours and left the schedule to the discretion of the schools.

It seemed like a good idea at the time and the only ones affected were those schools who wanted to benefit from increased instruction time. The Minister unfortunately explained her decision as a step to battle the drop-out rate, when in reality, it was just a cover story used to hide the accommodation she made for these nine Hassidic schools.
When the opposition found out about it, all Hell broke lose, although I still can't understand what it is exactly those opposed are complaining about.
The change to the law affects nobody except those schools and school boards who want to benefit from the new flexibility. Those who aren't interested need not make any changes at all.
The provincial teachers union quickly gathered a 25,000 name petition against the idea and has complained that the whole provincial structure is being changed to accommodate just nine schools, although they don't explain how and what the effect is. 

Pauline Marois of the PQ, added fuel to the fire by making the outrageously false statement in Parliament that the law would render Christmas and Easter as ordinary as any other day of the year, a statement designed to raise the hackles of Quebec Francophone Christians (most of whom ironically don't practice their faith.)
Either she is extremely stupid and uninformed or she intentionally is attempting to make political hay by hitching her star to the intolerance movement. You'd think she'd know that Christmas and Easter are statutory holidays, days when schools may not be open, regardless of the Education act.

And so the example of intolerance is being set by those who should know better and this mood has spilled over into the public.

Now a row has broken out in an Anglo minor hockey league over the scheduling of a playoff game on the first night of Passover, a holiday that almost all Jews, practising or not, celebrate at the family Seder table.
A team representing a west island community that is predominantly Jewish and whose hockey team consists of 10 Jews out of the 15 players, has requested that the playoff game be postponed by one day. The team was told by the league that no accommodation could be made, a spokesman claiming that it's an impossible task to schedule 700 games and take into consideration every community's holidays.  Therefore no exceptions would be allowed (except Christmas, of course.)

The truth, however is somewhat different. There are only a couple of games left as the league winds down its season and there are only a few teams left in the playoffs. Two other teams still competing offered to switch their scheduled game day with the Jewish team and its opponent. Everybody cooperated in the spirit of sportsmanship and tolerance. There would be no adverse effect on the schedule and the Jewish team could continue their playoff run.
Still the league said no to the arrangement. Play on the original date or forfeit. Nice....

These are the small accommodations that are disappearing with this new wave of political animosity towards minorities, encouraged by those who preach secularism, as long as it doesn't apply to Christians.

The media storm surrounding the debate is unprecedented with the mood of the public shifting rather quickly against any accommodation at all. Yesterday, Premier Charest, usually a firm supporter of accommodations announced that he'd be drafting a law that would effectively bar any woman from wearing the veil in any public or para-public building. This includes hospitals and schools as well as government offices.

A spokesman for the Montreal Muslim Council complained that the measure is a bit of an overkill and reminded reporters that the law would apply to less than two dozen Quebec Muslims who wear the veil. He openly questioned where this would all takes us.

We have just learned that an Outremont Hassidic synagogue was broken into over the weekend and ransacked. The moronic perpetrators, likely boosted by the public clamour,  painted Swastikas on the pulpit. They couldn't even get their hate message quite right and failed to accurately depict a proper Swastika. It's strange that not one newspaper article about the incident mentioned that fact.

I'm afraid we are experiencing a fateful tipping point.

It's going to get worse and its going to get lot uglier.

Para Olympic Closing Cermonies a Humiliating Failure

Every now and then, I like to go off on a tangent and discuss something that has nothing to do with Anglos in Quebec, but something that piques my interest.  It's a benefit that the independent blogger movement enjoys and one that mainstream journalists are not afforded and so, I don't care if I get a million negative comments,  I'm going to bitch about  the closing ceremony of the Para Olympic Games in Whistler.
Everyone in the mainstream press is too goody-two-shoes to pan an event celebrating para Olympians.

The closing ceremonies of the Para Olympics were so bad and so cheaply put together that it was nothing short of an unmitigated embarrassment for Vancouver and Canadians in general.

From beginning to end, there was a distinct lack of effort, talent and budget and the show was so hard to sit through that without the benefit of the TiVo fast forward function, I would have never made it.
I think Quebeckers should be happy that there wasn't any French to speak of, other than official announcements, because to be associated with this travesty would demean our province.

I have only one word to describe the mess.
HORRIBLE!!!!

The national anthem, uninspiring with the 'novel' idea of a giant Canadian flag being passed through the crowd must have truly wowed the world-wide audience. The speeches were long and boring and the singing talent consisted of a couple of unknowns, except for Chantal Kreviazuk, a C-Lister, who while somewhat known in Canada, is hardly a marquee name. Also the song that she sung, sucked quite badly.

The only passably entertaining act, was a wheelchair dance number performed by the Russians, who were pushing their games in Sochi, in 2014. Notwithstanding that the routine was plucked right out of an episode from the television show "GLEE," it was at least watchable. But alas, the follow-up act consisting of a blind Ukrainian singer, was also a painful assault on the ear.

I sat through the presentation of two Canadian native performers with my jaw wide open. I can only  describe both acts excruciatingly painful.
 
 I understand that VANOC (the organizing committee) foisted a Native fantasy theme upon us all, in order to buy social peace for their games, but putting on these dubious acts as representative of Canadian culture is nothing less than humiliating.

If you think I'm exaggerating, watch these two videos, which I defy you to sit through the clips to the end.

The first act consisted of an Indian doing a jig with a bunch of yellow Hula hoops, which truthfully, I never really associated with traditional native culture. At any rate, a twelve year old girl would have manipulated the hoops better. The headache inducing screaming and banging on the accompanying drum reminds me of a classic scene of toddlers torturing their grandparents with a tom-tom.

 That the Prime Minister and the Premier of BC smiled through the performances, is a testament in their ability to lie.

Now watch this. It is by far the worst performance I have ever seen in my life. A combination of orgasmic screams coupled with dog-like noises, it defies logic that nobody stood up and screamed that the "Emperor hath no clothes."

How much would you pay to see them perform locally?
How much would you pay to get out of seeing them perform?

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Bloc Quebecois' Masturbation Party

Resistance Leader Gilles Duceppe

Last weekend  the Bloc Quebecois held its annual meeting in Quebec City where they continued to promote the charade that they are in any way relevant to Canadian politics.
The sad truth is that almost all Bloc members hate their jobs, including Gilles Duceppe, who not so secretly aspires to the job of Premier of Quebec.
He caused somewhat of a stir by comparing his separatist movement to the famous "Resistance," which battled the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two.
Hearing of the comparison, Federal Minister Lawrence Cannon  blew a gasket and complained that Duceppe had insulted Canada, when in fact, the real crime was to compare the Bloc pantywaists with those that bravely fought and died battling a murderous enemy.

The convention was highlighted by the keynote speaker, oddball ex-mayor of small town Huntington, Stephane Gendron, who told the audience that while he liked the Bloc, he didn't think he'd vote for sovereignty. Hmm..
Then it was the turn of ex-MP Suzanne Tremblay to wow the crowd by telling them that the Bloc was making an important contribution in Ottawa because by speaking only French  in Parliament, it forced the government to hire more interpreters. Wow!

For the majority of the 1,379,628 voters in Quebec who voted for the Bloc Quebecois in the last Federal election, sending separatists to Ottawa is an infantile exercise in tweaking the collective nose of English Canada. Pissing in the soup of federal politics is just about the only thing left for the frustrated sovereignist to do, taking advantage of a split federalist vote to garner 66% of the Quebec seats with about a third of the votes.

I'm mindful of the movie line in FATAL ATTRACTION wherein the jilted lover character played by Glen Close threatens the Michael Douglas character (who is desperately trying to dump her) "I mean, I'm not gonna be ignored"

And ignored they are. A Bloc Member rising in Parliament to speak is a wonderful opportunity for government members to unplug their simultaneous translation earpieces and take a few moments to zone out.

While those who voted for the Bloc rejoice in their collective thumbing of their nose at Canadians and their federal Parliament, few Quebeckers understand how desperately sad and humiliating the presence of these separatists in Ottawa really is.

Short of bringing down the government, which they are fearful of doing,  they have no power and no influence. In fact, their presence has the complete opposite effect of what they claim they are doing, defending the interests of Quebec voters and so they sit in Parliament like an unwelcome, nasty and crotchety old grandfather who is roundly ignored at the family dinner table, even when he speaks. 

One of the principle reasons that the Bloc has such a high turnover rate is that it is a nasty avocation to go to work each day with co-workers who hate your guts, in a city full of people who loathe your presence.

When opposition parties flirted with the idea of a coalition government that included the Bloc last year, the very concept, so shocked the sensibilities of Canadians that the only other person with a legitimate shot at forming a government on his own, Michael Ignatief of the Liberals, was forced to back down.
It was a good thing for Jack Layton too, because had the coalition gone through, it would have destroyed the political careers of the two leaders.

I have eaten in  the Parliamentary cafeteria and have seen the Bloc members sitting alone amongst themselves, like the nerds that populate the loser corner of any high school in Canada.

Big shots in Quebec, Bloc members are nobodies in Ottawa and the reality is difficult for them to digest.

When asked about their accomplishments in Ottawa, the Bloc always answer that they are defending Quebec's interest. But how?

There is nary a piece of legislation that they can lay claim to have been a moving force behind. The amendments that they offer are only on the rarest of occasions incorporated in government policy.

Last week they proposed an amendment to the crime bill which would reverse the policy of letting non-violent first time offenders out on parole after serving only one-sixth of their sentence.  A good idea that makes eminently good sense and one with which I'm sure the vast majority of Canadians would agree with.
But because the amendment came from the Bloc, the government didn't even bother considering it for a moment. Had the Liberals or the NDP proposed the same amendment, it would have been surely put on the table for debate.

So all that is left is the pitiful exercise in collective masturbation, the bane of those who cannot do anything in the real world and so are consigned to the world of imagination.

Relieved, re-assured and recharged after their stroke-a-thon convention, the Bloc members return to Parliament to continue with he charade that they are something other than a sad collection of failed separatists advancing a tired and rejected platform.

For me, instead of feeling anger at their insulting presence in Ottawa, I take solace and grim pleasure that everyday is another painful and frustrating day that they must endure in a united and strong Canada, another day taking them farther and farther away from their dream.
It has been twenty long years of a misery and frustration. I wish them many more decades of the same. Suffer on.

It's plain to everyone else that their dream of sovereignty is enduring a slow and lingering death in Quebec and one might ask if the destiny of Bloc members is to live out their retirement back home, in a Quebec firmly rooted in Canada, living out their sunshine years on the avails of their Canadian parliamentary pension.

Think any of them will refuse that pension out of principle?

.....No I don't think so either.

Law & Disorder Volume 1

Alleged murderer might benefit from indemnity

The Society of the Quebec Automobile Insurance may by law, be obliged to indemnify the father of the three daughters found dead in a car at the bottom of the Rideau Canal in Kingston. In an interview, former Justice Minister, Marc Bellemare, has confirmed that Mohammad Shafia, accused of murdering his three daughters may be eligible to receive $49, 000 for each of the three deaths, even if he is convicted of the murders! LINK(fr)


Sixty days in jail for $3.37 theft
"A young man will spend the next 60 days in jail after stealing a beer from a convenience store in Quebec. He stole the $3.37 beer to celebrate having just gotten out of jail." LINK


Stop the Deportation of Dany Villanueva !
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) began the process of trying to deport Dany Villanueva from Canada, by attempting to remove his permanent residency status. You'll recall that he was at the center of a Montreal police arrest attempt that led to a confrontation wherein his brother Fredy was shot and killed. The career criminal is a member of a Montreal North street gang and is currently facing more criminal charges. He is being supported in his efforts to stave off deportation by an anti-police organization known as the "Coalition contre la Répression et les Abus Policiers" (Coalition against Police repression and abuse.) The group is better known by its acronym - "C.R.A.P." Yup, no joke! LINK(fr)

Swift justice for some, but not all!
A 31-year-old man became involved in a mid-air altercation with a fellow passenger aboard an Air Canada flight which resulted in a forced landing at Montreal's Trudeau International Airport.
The very next day he appeared in court and was sentenced to a 30-day jail term for disturbing the peace. That was quick! LINK

Meanwhile, a former Rwandan ambassador to Canada lost a court case in a 12-year attempt to avoid deportation. The Canadian government has been trying to kick him out since 1998, alleging that he was a senior member of a regime that engaged in "systematic or gross human rights violations or war crimes or crimes against humanity." The judge noted that Segasayo has not exhausted all legal avenues to remain in Canada, and that he still had the right to make a case to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Another 12 years, perhaps?

$500,000 embezzlement doesn't bother company
An employee of a Montreal packaging company embezzled close to half a million dollars from his union over a period of a couple of years. His union reported the theft to the police and the employee was charged with fraud.
As for the company, it said that the incident was none of their business, as it was a 'union' affair and told the man that he could keep his job. Unfortunately for the company he''ll have to serve a three year jail term before going back to work...


Murderer kills parents and then collects inheritance.

Despite having murdered his parents by decapitation with an axe in 2007, Alain Piche will still get his inheritance after the Quebec's Court of Appeal overturned a 2008 Superior Court. The appellate court decided that the murderer cannot be held responsible for the deaths because his mental condition robbed him of the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. LINK

Novel defences offered in court.
Valère Audy writes in La Voix de l'Est about three defendants who offered some creative arguments in their various trials.
Scott Chase of Waterloo is appealing his life sentence because he objected to the judge's instruction to the jury that neither jealousy nor intoxication can be used as a defence for the brutal murder of a woman.
André-Louis Lemaire of Tropicana was convicted of abusing children who were aged between two and ten years old. The paedophile told the court that he shouldn't be blamed because it was the victims fault for 'enticing and provoking' him...
Alexandre Fournier of Dunham was convicted in the death of a passenger when he crashed his car at 174 kilometres an hour. The young man  blamed the accident on the fact that cars shouldn't be designed to go that fast.


Career Criminal asks for bail
When you read about crooks like this, it makes you wish that Canada would employ the three strike law.
Mario Moreau, a 40 year old man from Shawinigan, has 44 robberies and break-ins to his credit, as well as several stints in prison.
In his most recent trial, Patrick Masson, an investigator for the provincial police, reported to the judge that the career criminal left his fingerprints in a residence in Grand-Mere where a TV and other  valuables were stolen.
On April 19, 2009, according to information obtained by the investigator,  Moreau stole a wallet in a vehicle and allegedly used the credit cards in amounts totalling $347.
In August 16, 2009, Mario Moreau allegedly tried to sell some dresses stolen at a shop where a sizable amount of money was stolen as well as a computer.

In September 2009, his fingerprints were found at the scene of another break-in.
On the night of October 12, 2009,  the owner of a carpet store, which was closed at the time, came face to face with Moreau who explained that he was just looking for bottles because he needed money, before fleeing.
He broke into a home in Lac a la Tortue in January and  stole an amplifier, a violin and jewelry valued at approximately $3,500. His fingerprints were found on a mirror.

Finally,  police caught up with him at a motel, but he escaped by removing an air conditioner from the wall and scampering away, leaving his girlfriend behind.

After the lengthy summary by the police investigator in court describing Moreau's recent criminal exploits, the defendant's lawyer asked the Judge to release the defendant on bail into his mother's care.

The crown attorney almost fell off her chair at the chutzpah and objected, stating that the evidence against Moreau was rock solid and that in addition to his many previous crimes and convictions, he had breached bail conditions 17 times before!  

Do you think he got bail?
No..... not even in Quebec.
 

Sorry Canada, Don't lecture Quebec on the Niqab

As those of you who read this column on a limited or ongoing basis can attest, I'm a great defender of personal freedom. I argue passionately over the excesses that I believe are imposed against the English and minorities in Quebec.

That being said, I must denounce the sanctimonious admonitions of Quebec's position in regard to the niqab, offered by liberal know-it-alls, on the op-ed pages in many Canadian newspapers. I take great offence to having our Quebec collectivity attacked as intolerant or racist, just because we are having a legitimate debate on the limits of religious fundamentalism in our province.

Quebec doesn't need lessons in democracy from anyone. We have legitimate and critical differences,  based on the precarious state of the French fact in Canada as well as the precarious state of Anglophones in Quebec. These debates affect our lives and are not academic exercises in some debating class. 

So in Quebec we are used to talk, real debate, where issues that affect our daily lives are examined publicly with an objective to controlling our own destiny.

Just this week the city of Montreal tolerated the fourteenth annual march by anarchists that has once again invariably resulted in destruction of public property. Every year, there are calls to limit or ban this march of idiots and every year the consensus remains- that to attack these moron's right to protest, is to attack our very own liberty. So we endure the mayhem, year after year.
So Canada, don't lecture us that we are simple-minded intolerants.  

Should there be a debate over the niqab?
You bet there should be.
 In Canada, we all accept that religious and personal freedom is not absolute. We place limits on acts or behavior where they conflict with our fundamental beliefs in democracy, equality and freedom of person.
We don't allow anyone, in the name of religious or personal freedom to marry a minor, refuse a blood transfusion for a loved one, make animal sacrifices, engage in polygamy or mutilate the body of young girls. All these practices are legal somewhere else in the world but not here. Those who want to import these concepts to Canada are in for a rude awakening.

So the debate over the niqab is just another legitimate debate in regards to religious fundamentalism.

Liberals will argue that the niqab is just a piece of clothing, but it is anything but. Regardless of personal choice, the niqab tells women that they are unworthy of being seen in public, or that the public (men) are unworthy of seeing them. Women, who in the guise of religious modesty tell society that they cannot interact with men, violate our basic principle and tenant of an egalitarian society. To indulge this precept is to diminish what we are.

Many women who wear a veil talk about personal choice as if it is the Holy Grail (excuse the Christian connotation) of dispensation (again..err). On the basis of personal choice people defend all sorts of stupid behaviour, but it doesn't make it acceptable. Society can legitimately place limits on stupid and destructive choices.

There is an underlying truth that women who wear the niqab are second class citizens in the matrimonial home, regardless of what they say. It is a symbol of subjugation, again, regardless of what they say.

Quebec has acted boldly in saying no to this religious extreme. We have as much right to ban the niqab as we have to ban other religious excesses. It isn't racist or intolerant and it sends a clear message to those who would come to live among us.

While Quebec is branded intolerant by the liberal press in Canada, the vast majority of citizens in Canada are silently in agreement with our position and respect our decision to face the issue.

I'm sure the citizens of France, England, Holland, Denmark and the other European countries overrun by Islamist fundamentalists, rue the day that they didn't stop to decide on the future course of their country.

Quebec is not intolerant of Muslims, Quebec is afraid of extremism and like it or not, the niqab is part and parcel of that extremism.

Quebec is showing a degree of bravery that the other governments of Canada are loath to undertake.

No matter, the people will decide. Once the principle of no veils in public is established in Quebec, the other provinces will gain the political fortitude to do the same. Fundamentalists will understand that they will be challenged and that Canada will not accept their principles of exclusion, nor accept their misogynist practices.

I hope the rest of the country will thank us for having the intestinal fortitude to confront what is inherently anti-Canadian, even if we are mere Quebeckers.
One day, perhaps you will thank us.

Quebec Intellecutals Not so Smart

Last week I predicted that Quebec's Human Rights Commission would come down hard on the niqab and burqa and am only surprised that it happened so quickly. As I said then, the handwriting is on the wall, public opinion is solidly against women wearing veils in public. The Commission ruled that the RAMQ (Health Commission) could ask a niqab-clad women to remove her veil for the purposes of taking a photo for it's ID card and that any request to be served by a female be ignored.

The commission further ruled that members of the general public could not request to be served by another worker in the case of being confronted with a government employee wearing headscarf, nor ask to be served by someone else because the clerk speaks with an accent (Duh!)

The second ruling is not as stupid and unnecessary as it sounds. It is becoming somewhat of a public sport to taunt women wearing not only veils but head scarves. The anti-religious movement is growing bolder and bolder.

On Tuesday a group of mostly academics published a declaration demanding that the province become officially and practically secular (very much like the United States government.)

In a published document entitled "Déclaration des Intellectuels pour la laïcité" (Declaration by Intellectuals in favour of Secularism) a group of mostly academics puts forth the case for keeping religion out of public life.
The first thing that struck me is their profound conceit in naming themselves "intellectuals" a term usually bestowed upon oneself by others. I can't fathom a group of Anglos publishing a manifesto and calling it a "Declaration by V.I.P.'s in favour of Secularism.)

It must be a cultural thing, because I have actually seen a room called the "Salle de reception VIP" at Montreal's Trudeau airport. Again, in English culture, it is presumptuous and uncouth to refer to oneself as a "VIP" or an "Intellectual."

At any rate the so-called 'declaration" is a legal-like defence of secularism and pretty much repeats the old arguments as to why Quebec public life should be religion-free. I won't get into that discussion here.

What bothers me is the incredible intellectual dishonesty in Section Two of the declaration entitled;

2. La laïcité fait partie de l'histoire du Québec

(Secularism is part of the Quebec History)

This section is utter nonsense. Anyone who signed, should be ashamed to have put their name on such an obvious misrepresentation.

The declaration sets out to prove that the drive for secularism today, isn't anything new and certainly not a reaction to the current debate over immigrants, accommodations, Hasids, veils, Islamists and Kirpans, etc. etc.

Ridiculous. If you believe that statement, I've got a good deal on some swampland in Florida for you.

The declaration gives one or two lame-ass examples of the so-called attempt to rid Quebec of religion in the past, but as everyone knows, Quebec has been dominated by religion and the Catholic Church for 350 years, with a break from that domination beginning only in the 1960's. The power of the Church wasn't really broken until the mid 1970's, so any talk about a history of secularism is trash.

The following statement in that declaration neatly sums up the 312 word, nonsense account of how Quebec has always cherished secularism;

"Secularism is part of the historic landscape of Quebec"

Whaaaat!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! I can't think of any statement less true.

Before the 1960's Quebec was the least secular jurisdiction in North America.
The Church's control over the people of Quebec was so absolute that priests told women how many children to have and men what kind of work to do. They even imposed their own poll tax. Priests were wielded more power than elected politicians!

Even public schools were run by the Church and this until the 1970's.

Until the schools were finally de-confessionalized, French speaking Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians were sent to Protestant English schools because Priests wouldn't tolerate heathens sitting in the same class as Catholics.

Even in these Protestant English schools, a healthy dose of Christianity was doled out on a daily basis, starting with the morning rendition of the "Lord's Prayer" and a selection from the little red hymn book, that each student kept in their flip-top desk. Every Quebec-bred, non-Christian over fifty years old can belt out "Onward Christian Soldiers" with the best of the Sunday school crowd.

Secularism in Quebec. Where? When?

A crucifix still sits over the Speaker's chair in Quebec's Parliament and town councils across Quebec still insist on Christian prayers before town hall meeting.

To pretend that Quebec had a inkling of secular tendencies in the past, is a blatant lie, because it hardly has any now.

J'accuse!!

By the way, looking over the long list of signatories I couldn't find an Anglo name and of course the manifesto is only available in French..... How's that, for the open and plural society that the declaration describes!

French vs. English Volume 9

Too many English Songs?

On Friday January 22, all the TV networks broadcast an all-star appeal for aid in Haiti. There was an American broadcast, a Canadian one as well as a separate show put on by French artists in Quebec. Writing in Tribune libre de Vigil, Pierre Schneider complains that there were too many songs sung in English during the French language show. He went on to say that the English broadcast was comprised of English only songs, but alas is misinformed, as there was a Creole tune offered by Wyclef Jean.

Sportswriter sounds Off Again?

Even Sports writer and resident Anglo basher Réjean Tremblay couldn't complain about the fact that the Montreal Canadiens dumped Francophone hockey goon Georges Laraque, who was hired to defend his team mates with his fists and turned out to be a cowardly lion. 

He did however lament that the next Francophone on the Canadiens 'hit list' is Maxime LaPierre and advised him to score a few more goals, as well as change his name to 'Max Stone' to safeguard his job.

Language buffoon sounds off again
Mario Beaulieu, president of the  Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Montreal is a busy guy, flitting around the province denouncing all who get in the way of his dream of an independent French-only Quebec.

He freaked out over Bell Canada's decision to name it's high-speed Internet service "FIBE" a word not found in the French language, so obviously English.

It fell to a  Bell spokesperson to inform Mr. Beaulieu that "FIBE" is not an English word either, and is a play on both the English term "FIBER-OPTIC" and the French term "FIBRE-OPTIQUE." 

No matter, Mr. Beaulieu hinted that a boycott is in order. LINK(fr)

English signs set off panic
An English safety sign placed by a contractor alongside a similar sign warning pedestrians to use the other side of the street, sent French language militants into a furious rage that resulted in a complaint to the city of Montreal. After an investigation, the offending sign was removed to the relief of panicked language purists who firmly believe that those who can't speak French should be punished by having construction crap fall on their heads.

A bilingual sign in a coffee shop asking patrons to return their trays was the target of a complaint to the Quebec language police. When the office didn't move fast enough to have the sign removed, a furious online "WOE IS ME" campaign was started.

Sleep Country boycott is on
Calling Sleep Country Canada's refusal to change it's name in the Hull area of Quebec "Predatory," (Can someone explain that to me?) the Mouvement Montréal français has officially called for a boycott of the chain.

Is Mario Beaulieu Dastardly Clever or Just an Idiot

The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal is the oldest radical sovereignist organization in Quebec and is run by Mario Beaulieu.

You may recall that it was this organization that objected to an Anglophone band performing in English at the festivities at the Fete Nationale celebrations last summer, before being humiliated in the press and subsequently, being forced to back down. LINK

Mr. Beaulieu likes to make the rounds of television talk shows promoting the French language and sovereignty in general. He moans and groans at the unfairness of it all and chastises the government for not doing enough to protect French. He spouts all sorts of statistics to support his point of view, which pours forth in an endless font of facts and figures.

Problem is, that most of what he says is either misleading or outright lies.

A speech he gave at the founding convention of the French watchdog group Mouvement Laurentides français came across my RSS reader and just before consigning it to the trash bin, I decided to give it a screening.

Mr. Beaulieu  continued on his "Woe is Me" theme, but as I watched the video, I realized that the things that he was saying, didn't ring true.

Notwithstanding his smooth delivery, the facts he was spouting were not facts at all. This, combined with moronic logic, bad math and faulty assertions and conclusions had me asking myself if this guy was cleverly and deliberately misleading or was he just plain stupid.

Watch the video and make up your own mind. Idiot or Dastardly Clever?
What do you think, please vote?

Is Violent Anti-Religion Extremism in the Cards for Quebec?

On Wednesday I wrote about the niqab clad women who was kicked out of French class. I remarked that it signalled a change in the official attitude of the government and could signal a dangerous deterioration in relations with minority communites.

In reaction, a reader,  Pierre-Luc commented that;

 In Charlesbourg (a suburb of Quebec City) a citizen kicked out a Muslum from a supermarket.
(À Charlebourg, y'a un citoyen qui a kické out une musulmane intégriste d'un supermarché)

He referred me to a link that played a portion of the radio-show Radio de Quebec that discussed the matter and quite frankly when I listened to the extract I was disturbed.

It seems that the good citizen assaulted a Muslim women in a Quebec City supermarket and forcibly ejected her from the store because he was offended by her veil.

The radio panel and the idiot assaulter spent a great deal of time discussing the veil and it's evil impact on Quebec society, while conveniently forgetting to mention that the attacker committed nothing less than a criminal assault.  Nobody even mentioned calling in the police.

The attacker was quite pleased with himself and declared any one wearing religious regalia in public, 'fair game.'
Attitudes have changed dramatically in Quebec, vis-a-vis accommodations and it seems that it is now open season on women wearing veils.

What's next? Bearded Hasids, Turban wearing-Sikhs, Sari-clad Indians?

There is an anti-religion movement growing in the province, led by a radical coterie of secular, white Francophones, failed Christians, and I'm shocked that it has developed so rapidly.

Is there a vigilantism growing in Quebec, in the spirit of the Nazi BROWNSHIRTS that terrorized minorities in pre-war Germany?
Is this the beginning?

Next week I shall write about this unprecedented attack by secularists on all religions.

*** "Not Available in Quebec"

Years ago, my wife and I descended from our cruise ship to try our luck at a local casino, in one of the Caribbean islands (I can't recall which.)  A very pleasant black taxi driver drove us over and in the course of the conversation, we learned that locals were banned from entering the casino (likely to save them from ruin.) The driver told us that he had no interest in going in, but objected that white islanders weren't denied access. Hmm... It made me feel a bit queasy.

A couple of days later when we returned to our disembarkation point in Miami, I bought a chocolate bar and noticed that the candy company was running a contest which was described the terms on the back of the packaging. I was disappointed to spy the depressingly familiar disclaimer, in the tiniest of print at the end of the contest conditions.

"**NOT AVAILABLE IN QUEBEC" 

Sheesh, all the way down in Florida and we're still reminded that Quebec is different, more often than not, not in a good way. Perhaps we are as needy of protection as the aforementioned taxi driver.

We who live in the province are used to being excluded from all sorts of opportunities, contests, toys, deals, shopping opportunities and product offers, all because of the famous disclaimer.

"**NOT AVAILABLE IN QUEBEC"

For this we have to thank the various branches of the Quebec government who wish to protect us from the evils that lie outside our provincial border. Heaven protect us!!!

If you're an Anglo Quebecker, don't tell me you've never read an offer that interested you, only to be frustrated by the ubiquitous disclaimer which always comes at the end, after you've read the whole damn thing!

Loto-Quebec is the Quebec government corporation in charge of anything that has to do with gambling, contests and promotions that occur in the sacred territory of Quebec. Ostensibly, this oversight insures fairness and protects contest entrants by making sure that any prize offered, is actually awarded. For this, the agency exacts a fee from the contest holder, even from national and international organizations.
For most, it's just easier to exclude Quebec than go through the hassle and expense of dealing with the government bureaucrats.

Another reason we are excluded from so many opportunities, is that most everything sold into Quebec must have either a French version, and/or French instructions. It leads to the unfair situation where Anglophones can't enjoy products, services and offers made in their own language.

Financial institutions also fall prey to overzealous regulation and so credit card deals or special mortgage financing is subject to the famous disclaimer as well.

Here's but a smattering of examples.;

______________________________________________________

Who can apply for a Citizens Bank VISA*?
You must be of legal age to apply for a VISA.
You must be resident of Canada.
Citizens Bank VISA accounts are not currently available to residents in the province of Quebec.

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

This from a video game bulletin board;

"I was like ''wtf?''

Then I went on playstation network to see if there were any new demos, but it says:

''This service is not availble in your country or region'' then I was more like ''WTF!?!?!?!?!?!YOU MOTHERF***ING PIECE OF GOD DAMN SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!''

So I called many of my friends, and they all had the same problem.

Conclusion: I think no one in Quebec can actually play online.My guess is that this due is to law 101 on french language... fuck."

______________________________________________________

Moving Service: "Our qualified and insured employees can make your move easy, we provide this service to commercial and residential customers. Currently Not available in Quebec."

______________________________________________________

Construction Sub Contractor Factoring
"Specialized factoring financing for Canadian construction subcontractors. We are one of the few firms in the nation that offers this service in most provinces (this service is not available in Quebec)"

_______________________________________________  

DivorceOnline

"Our experienced team of legal professionals have prepared thousands of Canadian divorce papers which the courts have........"...accepted in every province and territory (not available in Quebec)." (Ha! Ha!, that last part a good one!)

 ______________________________________________________

 I know you can find literally thousands of web sites with similar disclaimers, but I'm sure you'll agree with me that this one takes the cake;

** For visitors 18 years of age or over who have reserved a package through one of our tourism partners. This offer may be changed without notice and may not be combined with any other promotion. Any abuse related to this promotion, failure to respect the conditions or use deemed fraudulent may void this offer and the member's Casino Privilèges Club membership. One original Privilèges passport per person per package, up to a total of two passports per year. The Privilèges Passport is non-transferable. All amounts specified are in Canadian funds. Exclusive offer valid until March 15, 2010.

*** Offer not available to Québec residents.

The offer is called 'Sweet Deal' and is offered by none other than Loto-Quebec's Montreal Casino!!!
Can you believe that? We're even banned in Quebec!!! WTF!!!